A 19-year-old Missouri man accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in 2012 pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for child endangerment on Thursday, shortly after a filing by special prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. In other words, Matthew Barnett, a high school senior at the time of the alleged assault, was charged for allegedly leaving Daisy Coleman semi-conscious and barefoot in her own front yard in the middle of a freezing night, but not for any of the sexual assault allegations that drew national attention to the case in recent months, according to the Kansas City Star. The charges mark the end of the investigation into the Maryville case.

Associate Circuit Judge Glen Dietrich accepted Barnett's guilty plea to the charge at his Thursday arraignment. He will serve two years probation. As part of his probation, Barnett will pay restitution to Coleman, and perform 100 hours of community service. Barnett is also required to provide an apology to Coleman, according to Baker's statement following the hearing. An attorney for Barnett told reporters that his client "truly regrets" the actions for which he pled guilty, and said that Barnett will not comment further.

In a press conference following the hearing, Baker said that today was a "good day" for the town of Maryville. Baker also read a short statement from Daisy regarding today's hearing. "I want to thank everyone who supported me in these past two years," Coleman's statement read, adding that she was happy Barnett "took responsibility" by pleading guilty. Baker, who refused to refer to Coleman by name during her statement, said of the victim that "she has been at the heart of my concerns and she has been at the heart if this case." Baker added that in her opinion, the Coleman family was supportive of her investigation.

The special prosecutor pre-empted questions about her decision to not file sexual assault charges, telling reporters that in her opinion there was "insufficient" evidence to bring sexual assault charges against Barnett. "I had the evidence I had," she added.

In 2012, Barnett was charged with sexual assault (a felony) and child endangerment for allegedly raping Coleman during a party. Because the incident was captured on an iPhone video, Jordan Zech, also 17 at the time, was charged with felony sexual exploitation of a minor. But those charges were all dropped by county prosecutors. The investigation into the alleged sexual assault of Coleman's 13-year-old friend at the same party by an unnamed 15-year-old was handled in juvenile court, so the record isn't public.

The case went under the radar nationally until the Kansas City Star published a report questioning why prosecutors dropped the charges (Barnett, who says that the sex was consensual, comes from an influential local family), and detailing the harassment Coleman and her family faced in the wake of those accusations. Coleman and her mother Melinda eventually moved 40 miles away from Maryville to escape the town that turned on them after Daisy's alleged rape.

County prosecutors told the Star that they dropped charges against Barnett and Zech after the Coleman family stopped cooperating with the investigation, an explanation the Coleman family denies. Baker opened a re-investigation into the Maryville case earlier this year after details of the story drew international ire.